hi i did a test wings badge flight in the heli a week ago and have a question about the take off and land , i did all the other three ok hover ,, the letter M ok and the tail in circle ok , the takeoff and landing was not what i was exspecting wich was , stand on one corner of the box flaged ,,, heli in the center of box take off fly straight ahead of the box ,, turn at 90% and fly back towards me head on ,,fly past me out side the box ,, past two flags ,around me from behind and head to the center of the box and land , decending from mid the box , well not used to flying nose in would be awkard for some ,,, and flying around you on a 10 mtr box ,means 5mtrs from me and the heli and then center to come in and land ,quite tricky and very close if a 90 size heli used ,,, the wording saies take off from center of box ,,, fly round two flags land in center of box , i did all but the last one a little shakie ,but fail , the fine print saies quote ,the model MAY fly around the pilot,,, is this an option or rule , i thought flying around you was a no no , as in to the crowd area , and nose in is alway hard ,but i have been practiceing nose in takeoff,, landing ,hover,, for along time and have it down to a fine art i failed cause my decent from the 90% turn was not gradule to the landing pad ,,, this was a test of wat to expect , my learning of helis is four years , i love the hobby and have six helis 450 to 90 size i fly at home most nights weather permit , so i think i will flag the wings badge till its needed and gets lots more practise flying around me ,,wich i hate as i cant see what maybe there in the blind area ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, what do you think please reply

I havent been on here in a while and see no-one has replied to your query.

The current wings badge is basically the same as the current Clubman schedule for competition flying. If you download this from the SIG page (http://www.modelflyingnz.org/interest/Heli/events.htm) there are pictures to show you each requirement. You may get a better understanding of the final take-off, fly, and descent requirements from this.

With regards to flying around yourself - yes I agree this is not ideal in general flying BUT you do it with the tail-in circle anyway. Its all about a controlled area and being in control. You could, according to the wings requirement stand on the far side of the square , take off fly around yourself and land and not be any closer to the any spectators etc.

The wings badge is a demonstration of proficiency to demonstrate that you are in control and able to keep the heli in some form of controlled flight AND you are able to keep everyone else on the field reasonably safe by having command over your model. My personal perspective is you should, with today's technology, be able to take off, fly around the back flag by turning away from yourself, fly back to the other-side of the box, fly around the flag by turning towards yourself and come into land. Gyros are more than forgiving enough today to ensure reasonably stable flight.

The 10m square has been used internationally for years and competitions are still done today with 700/90 to 800 sized machines. However if you are not comfortable with this there is nothing to say you can not do this with a 450 sized heli. It fact it is probably preferable for everyone's safety.

For you to fly at your club without a holder of a heli wings badge there with you, you need a wings badge, otherwise you are not insured and the club should be controlling the amount and location of your activities.

hi and thanks for taking the time i was wondering if this website was a hoax nobody seems to talk , i thought the badge was for club insurance purposes , and most of all a compatency test of the pilot not an f3c or 3d test , as most of the guys i know want to fly scale or just have fun and learn past the day the test is done , i sat it and failed ,because i did not feel comfortable to flying ,,, straight infront ,,,, no prob , turn around fly straight toward me no prob but was asked to fly right around me facing the front and decend evenly onto a pad in the squaire , in other words a complete circle ,,, i dont fly behind myself as standing at the heli pad as we all do and the pits behind me is a nogo , i have been flying 4 years allmost every day i think i can do any thing with the heli i take the heli for nose in walks at home up the beach nose in all the way just for fun as for the tail in circle it is very easy to do , so i think i will stay a beginner i think i will bother with the a wings badge as yet untill i am rated on my compatency , handling , flying abillity , and maintainance and running of my helis , i went to another club out west for a day of recent to meet other guys and watch how they do things , and was asked if i want to sit it there , i watched them conduct the test , and compatency was the only thing they were after in the sky and handling if the heli and the maintaince quality of the machine tested the pilot doing the test was a pro in handling the machine and passed ok but it will happen oneday soon thankyou for your reply and happy flying gg

I saw this question when it was posted but didn't reply then because I'm not a Helicopter pilot with enough experience to answer. But your question illustrates a Wings point that I have seen before and could do with a bit of an explanation. The Wings test is not like many "exams" in that you know exactly what the oral questions are and the practical moves are, in advance, and you can practice as many times as you like. At my club, we fly candidates through the moves lots of times so that they are completely familiar with what to expect before they take the test.

Since anyone without a Wings qualification must have a qualified person standing next to them every time they fly at the club, it makes sense for the observer to have a copy of the routine with them and to coach the flyer through the routine. You could spend 2 minutes of every flight doing the routine and then free fly the rest. We have laminated copies of the Wings test for Basic pilots to make it easy for the observer. When you take the test, it shouldn't be the first time you've ever flown the routine and there should be no surprises.